In 1956, a crew of four
sailors, led by Henri
Beaudout, and two kittens
set out to cross
the North Atlantic on
a raft made from little
more than nine telephone poles and two
kilometres of rope. This extraordinary
adventure, reminiscent of Thor Heyerdahl’s
1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, is portrayed
in Ryan Barnett’s The Raftsmen.

Barnett, a documentary filmmaker
and producer at Historica, teamed up
with Canadian artist and illustrator
Dmitry Bondarenko to tell this fascinating
true-adventure tale. Using a blend of
archival photography and artwork interwoven
with narrative comics, Barnett and
Bondarenko engage readers with a rich
and emotionally charged account of this
long-overlooked voyage.

The story begins with an ex-soldier-turned-
draftsman who convinces a crew
of novice sailors to brave the dangerous
waters of the North Atlantic to test
his theory about ocean currents. It also
tells of Second World War exploits that
moulded the personalities of the brave
sailors who risked life and limb for the
spirit of adventure and science.

The Raftsmen brings all the excitement
of a television docudrama to the printed
page through beautifully illustrated maps
and sequentially illustrated accounts of
major challenges during the voyage. This
colourful and entertaining book is suitable
for younger readers as well as for
adults.

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